Iniquity
by Hray1
Summary: Booth & Brennan are called in to help discover who is tormenting a judge and his wife. Can Booth set aside his mistrust of the U.S. Marshals to solve the case before this worker of iniquity sets his sights on Brennan? Season 5
1. Chapter 1

Iniquity

Disclaimer: I don't own Bones

Ruth Geismann pulled her robe more firmly against her body to ward off the early October morning chill. Ruth was an early riser by nature, and only briefly regretted this morning, when the consequences of over indulging hit her as she left the confines of the bed. She had risen early that morning, to clean up the remnants of the party her and her husband, Judge Caleb Geismann, had hosted the night before. The kitchen had resembled a disaster area, plates and cups strewn about by the last of the party-goers, who had insisted on helping "clean-up."

The family dog, a corgi by the name of 'George,' was Ruth's only aid that morning. And George was quite content to snuffle around the kitchen floor, sucking up any crumbs to be found. Sadly for George the guests had been fastidious and his crumb findings were scant. Soon the dog had tired of his search and began barking to be let out.

"Alright Georgie don't rush me." Ruth crooned at the dog before opening the back door. She watched for several seconds as the dog sniffed around the ground before running to the back of the yard, hidden by a slopping hill.

Ruth turned back to the mess in her kitchen and set to cleaning it. She had just finished filling the dishwasher when the house phone began ringing. She rushed quickly around the island in the kitchen to grab the phone.

"Hello?"

"Morning Ruth."

"Hey Josie, you're up early," Ruth said smiling as she recognized the voice of her long time friend and neighbor, Josephina Kedleburg.

Josie laughed indulgently, "Not by choice. Georgie's at Caleb's shed barking up a storm."

"Sorry Josie, I'll come get him."

"Ok"

Ruth hung up the phone and slid her feet into her garden shoes sitting by the backdoor. Her husband's shed sat at the back edge of the property, where it abutted Josie's. As she exited the house she reached up and touched the mezuzah hanging by her door, a habit that preceded her leaving the house every time she did so.

Walking through the garden she and her husband had worked so hard to craft, Ruth was muttering under her breath about dogs and not having any sense. As she came drew closer to the shed she began calling to her dog and whistling for him to come. George, of course, was too busy barking at the door of the shed to pay her any attention. Corgi's have a reputation for barking at absolutely everything, so at first Ruth saw this little episode as merely an annoyance; but when she saw the frantic nature that George was pawing at the door, and shrilly barking her suspicions became aroused. When she reached the dog, he began pawing at her leg and barking and making a snarling noise.

"Be quiet George!" Ruth said sternly, as she reached for the door of the shed.

George darted into the building as soon as the door was open enough for him to wiggle through. Ruth followed at a much more dignified pace, searching the room as she walked. She walked around all of the various tables and machines, while the dog snuffled around the floor, eventually making their way to the stairs. The stairs creaked under Ruth's slight weight as she made her way up the stairs. Ruth looked up at the door leading into her husband's office , the normally white door was marred by scrawled red letters, "I am watching."

Her heart jumped into her throat, and quickly forgetting everything her husband ever told her about crime scenes and police work, raced up the final steps and entered the room. Ruth's husband was a stickler for order, and his office usually reflected that, the scene that greeted her in the room was anything but organized. His law books, so carefully organized and taken care of, were strewn across the room and files were pulled from the cabinet. She could see that there was something laying on the floor behind the desk, and rounded the furniture to see what it was.

Lying on the floor behind the desk was a body. It was readily apparent, even to Ruth, that these remains weren't 'fresh', as the skin was desiccated stretched tightly across the bones. The smell, which had not been immediately noticeable, was now nearly overpowering and had Ruth nearly gagging. Fighting back a scream in her throat she rushed back down the stairs to the woodshop. George was still sniffing around the room when Ruth grabbed him and bolted for the door. She rushed across the back yard and busted into the house, calling for her husband.

Caleb came down the stairs quickly, "Ruth? What's the matter?"

Gasping for breath she replied, "Caleb, call Danny."

"Danny? Why? Ruth what's going on?" He asked, watching his wife pacing in the kitchen, still holding George, who was squirming to get down.

Caleb reached into his shirt pocket, pulled out his cell phone and quickly dialed the number to the U.S. Marshal that had been charged with their protection for the past three years.

From across the street a dark figure watched the scene unfold from behind pulled blinds. His nicotine stained fingers pulled back the curtain slightly to watch as the U.S. Deputy Marshal arrived at the Geismann residence and he couldn't help but chuckle when he saw how distraught the lady of the house seemed even from the distance. When the cop cars and coroner's vehicles started to show up, he retreated behind the curtains again. At his feet his tabby cat was sitting watching him curiously, the man leaned down to stroke the feline's small head saying, "Don't worry my love. We'll get them."

Meanwhile, across the street, Danny was busy managing the different departments that were now involved in the investigation and was trying to keep everyone on the same page. He had several 'local cowboys' walking around to the various neighbors finding out what they knew, while he had the coroners and the local crime scene unit in the shed gathering evidence.

Having gotten a statement from both Ruth and Caleb, he went back out to the shed to see what the CSU team had uncovered. Walking up the stairs he could hear the murmuring of people having hushed conversations. Inside the room, there were two coroner employee's examining the body, two CSU techs were dusting for fingerprints on the various books and folders, and another Deputy Marshal standing in the room, writing notes.

Danny walked over to the other marshal, "Hey Tom, What've we got?"

Tom sighed, "Not much, the body's been dead a while. Not sure our techs can get anything out of it."

"What about that Jeffersonian group? Do you think they could get anything out of it?"

The group from the Jeffersonian was legendary in the D.C. law enforcement community and beyond, "I'm sure they could, but I've heard they're a bitch to work with, you sure this is worth the hassle?"

Danny was looking over his folder, having already decided that the Jeffersonian team was the best option, "Yeah man, I'm sure," then he looked up at Tom, "They have a handler at the FBI, I think his name is Booth. I want you to call him up and get them out here ASAP."

"Will do."


	2. Chapter 2

**Iniquity 2**

**Disclaimer: Bones doesn't belong to me.**

**A/N: Thanks to everyone for reading and "alerting" this story. It means a lot! I noticed yesterday that I never thanked the reviewers on my last story, "Praying Hands," and I wanted to correct that, so THANK YOU SOOOOO MUCH!!!! Especially Pax, your encouragement was invaluable!! You guys are awesome!!**

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Special Agent Seeley Booth and Dr. Temperance "Bones" Brennan arrived at the scene approximately one hour after Tom made the call. Booth had been getting ready for church, and Brennan had been enjoying a lazy morning reading from a new book she had purchased, but like Booth had said when he called to inform her of their new case, "I guess murders aren't interested in keeping the Sabbath."

They were greeted at the residence by a handsome man, in his early to mid-thirties with curly light brown hair. He was wearing a badge in a similar fashion to the way Booth wore his, from the belt, displaying the insignia. This badge, of course, indicated his affiliation with the United States Marshals. The man walked down the front steps of the porch to meet Dr. Brennan.

"You must be Dr. Brennan," he said extending his hand in greeting.

Brennan stared at it for a moment and responded, "Yes I am; where is the body?"

The man looked down at Brennan, he was definitely a tall man, he stood a good two inches taller than Booth, who wasn't short by any stretch of the imagination, "We'll head back to the scene in just a minute," then turning to Booth, "Agent Booth, thank you so much for bringing her here so quickly. We will have someone drive her home when we are finished. Enjoy the rest of your day."

As the man turned to show Brennan through the house Booth interrupted, "That's ok; I'm just going to hang around until she is finished."

"Agent Booth, FBI presence isn't required."

Booth smiled at the man in an effort to remain civil, "I understand, but if you want her, you get me too."

"I assure you that is completely unnecessary."

Brennan spoke up at that point, feeling slightly perturbed at being summoned to a crime scene and then not shown directly to the body (it was certainly never something that would have happened if FBI were running the show), "No, I assure you it is necessary. You'll find we," as she spoke she waved her hands indicating herself and the marshal," will get along much better if you talk to Booth and not me." With that she walked up the stairs and into the house, determined to find the crime scene and get to work.

The marshal stood staring after her, and Booth stood beside him grinning with pleasure. Booth decided to follow Brennan into the house, and after a few steps turned to the marshal again, "Well marshal, are you going to show us the crime scene, or do we have to find it ourselves?"

Danny shook himself out of the shocked stupor he was in, and hurried to catch up to the anthropologist and FBI agent, already traipsing through the house.

He caught up with the two as they entered the kitchen, in the back of the house.

"We found the body in the shed at the back of the property."

Brennan was in "squint mode" now, "Context of the find?"

Danny looked at Booth for a translation, "What?"

"She wants to know how the body was discovered and in what condition."

"Ah," he said nodding, "Ruth Geismann went to the shed to get her dog. She was suspicious of what the dog was barking at, went in to investigate, found the body upstairs in her husband's office. By the way Dr. Brennan, my name is Daniel Lowndes."

Brennan didn't even turn as she entered the shed and spoke, "I can't imagine how that pertains to the case."

Booth saw Danny's offended expression and felt sorry for the young man, "You'll have to excuse Dr. Brennan, she can be very task oriented and it can come off as brash."

"You ain't kidding man."

"She's just used to how the FBI runs a crime scene."

Danny smiled, "Yes, I can see where their inadequacy could take some getting used to."

"Watch it."

Meanwhile, Brennan had made it upstairs and into the crime scene. This one was tame compared to the many she had already investigated in her career. There were several forensics techs standing around talking. Brennan weaved her way through the room and to where the body was, kneeling beside the body she pulled out a pair of gloves, snapped them on, then pulled out her digital recorder.

Before turning the machine on, she took a cursory look at the body. The din in the room was wrecking her concentration and after trying several discreet coughs to gain their attention, she resorted to a method that worked quite well in the lab and whistled loudly. The noise was followed to absolute silence in the room, "I need everyone to clear the room."

The group stood staring at Brennan as though she had grown a second head and made no move to do her bidding. The continued silence was broken by the sounds of footsteps thundering up the stairs and was followed by Booth appearing the door frame. He quickly scanned the room and seeing no trouble moved to where Brennan was squatted down next to the remains, "Bones, what was that?"

"I can't work with all these people in here, I need to room cleared."

Booth turned to the room at large a spoke, "Ok you heard her people, clear out. FBI clear out!"

Now Danny was filling the door frame, "Agent Booth, do I need to remind you that you have no jurisdiction on this case?"

"Well you're about to have no forensic anthropologist on this case there Buddy."

Danny looked confused by that statement, "What do you mean?"

Booth moved to stand shoulder to shoulder with the man, "You see how she's got that tic in her right eye and her knuckles are turning kind of white?"

"No."

Sometimes Booth forgot that not everyone noticed the minutia of Dr. Brennan the same way he did, "Well I'm telling you it's there, and those are clear signs she is not happy my friend. And when Dr. Brennan is not happy, no one is happy."

Danny scoffed slightly, "I think you're putting too much stock in one scientist. She can't be the only forensic anthropologist in town."

Brennan's head perked up from her perusal of the body upon hearing that little tidbit of the conversation. Booth simply shook his head in disgust, "Oh here we go!"

"Mr. Lowndes, do you realize that I am the only forensic anthropologist in the area. The next nearest is in Montreal. Parlez-vous Français? And for your information…"

"Hey, hey, hey Bones slow down. Look we got the room cleared, so just finish looking at the bones so we can get out of here." Booth pleaded, not wanting some sort of inter-departmental war getting started.

"Fine, but I need you to leave too; I've had too many distractions already."

Booth and Danny left the upper office to allow Brennan some 'quality' time with the remains.

Once alone Brennan got to work measuring and cataloging all of her findings. The tissue was completely desiccated and was missing in several places, hair and available flesh indicated that the victim was Caucasoid female, age was hard to determine, the bones were obscured by flesh, and she would need x-rays to make a definitive estimation. Brennan took note of long bone lengths and then turned to study the face. She would have been an attractive woman by American standards, delicate features.

Brennan took note of the blunt force trauma to the back of the head, there was a portion of the skull that was bowed inward, and was the most likely cause of death. As Brennan looked closer she saw scarring on the bone consistent with the neck muscles being pulled away from the bone, like the force of the blows were so great the neck muscles tore. This was further supported by the fact that the front of her face, showed little damage, the victim was not on the floor when she was attacked. She also noted as she studied the head, that all the teeth had been pulled from her mouth. Because of the lack of hemorrhagic tissue in the bones, she determined that atrocity had occurred after death.

Brennan turned on her recorder and read off her measurements and then a short diatribe on her suspicions. Feeling confident that she was finished with the body for the moment Brennan pulled off her gloves and called to Booth and Danny outside the room.

Once the men had joined her she explained her findings, "Caucasoid female, dead at least a year. Blunt force trauma to the occipital and parietal bones. Her muscles were ripped along C1 through C3."

"Age," Danny asked.

"I can't give a definitive age yet. Femur dimensions indicate mid-teens."

"You can't get any more specific than that?"

"No, generally I use epiphyseal fusion as an indicator, as you can see the epiphyseal plates are still covered in epidermis, I will need x-rays for a more definitive result."

Danny turned to Booth looking exasperated, "What did she say?"

"She wants to take x-rays and look at certain parts of the bone to determine how old the girl was."

Brennan was shaking her head and mumbling to herself, "I just said that," as she put all of her instruments back in her bag.

Standing up and dusting off her pants she told Booth, "Booth, have the marshals send the body to the Jeffersonian. Hodgins will pull particulates and we can get Angela to run a schematic of the attack."

"Will do Bones" Booth said as he followed her out of the room and down the stairs.

Danny was following closely behind, "So are we done here for today?"

Booth spoke then, "Yep, just have the remains shipped to the Jeffersonian, the team there will get you all the information they can. I'll send the findings to your office when they're finished."

"Sounds good, and thank you again Dr. Brennan, for lending us your expertise."

"You're welcome Deputy Marshal Lowndes. Booth will be in touch."

With that she turned and began walking back through the house, Booth following close behind, with his hand on her back.

As they got closer to the SUV Booth turned to Brennan, "Bones, was I like that when we first started working together?"

"You were," she said, then patted his arm comfortingly, "But you've gotten a lot better."

Booth smiled, "Yeah, it was kind of nice translating for you today."

Brennan smiled back, "Yes it was."

The dark figure watched the two from his vantage point behind the curtains, his cat sitting on his lap looking out too. He had not anticipated the marshals brining in Dr. Temperance Brennan, he had read about her in the local paper, and had read many of her books, and knew how capable she was at solving cases. He felt a quick stab of nervousness grip his chest, for the first time since starting his campaign, he was uncertain of its success. The cat stirred on his lap, seeming to sense his altered mood.

Crooning softly he spoke to the cat, "Oh don't worry my love, if she gets in the way, we'll simply get her too." He smiled contentedly, feeling assured that she wouldn't alter his plans; that they would pay for their crimes despite Dr. Temperance Brennan's involvement.

He pulled the blinds closed as the pair drove off in their SUV, leaving the rest of the scene behind them. The man pulled out yet another cigarette lit up and murmured, "We'll get her too."

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**Sorry it took so long to get this chapter out. I hope you enjoyed it, let me know what you think and what I can improve on! :)**


	3. Chapter 3

**Disclaimer: I hate to burst people's bubbles, but I don't own Bones.**

**AN: In this chapter is mention of a dessert called mendlebread...its absolutely fabulous, get the recipe and try it sometime!**

Iniquity 3

Cases that start on Sunday invariably cause Mondays to be horrible. The same was proving true this Monday as well, as Booth read the email communication from Danny Lowndes of the United States Marshals. He would be arriving at the Jeffersonian at approximately 8:30 to brief the scientists there on the case. Booth glanced at his watch, 8:20, there was no way he would make it to the Jeffersonian before the marshal arrived, he just hoped the man wouldn't do too much damage before he was able to get there. Grabbing his coat his raced out of his office to battle traffic over to the Jeffersonian.

Across town, Danny arrived to find the scientists already working on the body from yesterday. When he first entered the large room he felt very overwhelmed, everything gleamed and just being in the same room with Dr. Brennan and her crew he felt decidedly stupid. Danny scanned the room and found that the group of scientists was all situated on a raised platform in the middle of the room. He could see Dr. Brennan and her team standing around the body discussing. He walked over to the steps of the forensics platform and began climbing them. After his foot hit the second step, a loud and ear piercingly shrill alarm began beeping, drawing the attention of all of the scientists on the platform and two rather burly security guards. Dr. Brennan quickly strode across the space and slid her pass card in the machine to deactivate the alarm.

"What the hell is that?"

"Our alarm system, it prevents unauthorized people from coming here and contaminating the evidence."

"Good to know."

"You know Mr. Lowndes, you're presence isn't required here. Booth will fax our findings to you when we have them," she said turning to return to the body.

"Well no offense ma'am but we have presiding jurisdiction and I have no intention of going through the FBI to get the results of my investigation."

Brennan looked him up and down, "Fine, just stand over there, out of our way," with that she did leave the marshal standing there to return to the team.

Danny walked over to stand near the group and watch what they were doing."

Brennan spoke to the team, ignoring the presence of Danny, "Mr. Fischer, I need you to take a complete set of pictures and x-rays of the body. Hodgins we need you to swab for particulates, see if you can give us a location where the body was kept, and Angela we need a face, all the teeth are missing from the body," then turning to Cam, "Dr. Saroyan, how long will you need with the body?"

"Couple of hours; I want to pull tissue samples to run some tox-screens and run the body under some alternate light sources, see what that gives us."

"Ok, Mr. Fisher, while she is doing that why don't you put together 'A-G2514-R' from limbo?"

Hearing that Danny stepped forward, "Umm, Dr. Brennan, the Marshal's and Judge Geismann requested that this case be the lab's only priority…"

Five sets of eyes turned, and the group finally acknowledged his presence on the platform, but it was Cam who spoke, "We're aware, thank you for the update," her smile was tight and sarcasm dripped from her voice.

Danny bristled at the doctor's tone and felt the need to put these squints in their place regarding this investigation, "Now you listen here…"

Whatever he was going to say was interrupted by the soft beeps from the security system as someone slid their card through and walked up the stairs. All six turned to see Booth walking up the stairs two at a time, in an effort to stave off world war three on the forensics platform.

"Whoa there buddy, you want to back down there a jot?"

Danny sighed wearily, "Agent Booth, how many times do I have to tell you that you have no jurisdiction here, and your presence is neither warranted nor wanted?"

Cam spoke up again, "Mr. Lowndes, we work with Booth, he understands our procedures and policies far better than anyone else in the law enforcement community. Having him here is going to make your life easier."

Danny turned to Cam, "What he's going to fill out my paperwork?"

Cam smiled again, "No, but he'll keep you from continuing to make mistakes that make us want to kill you."

Danny finally conceded, anything to get these squints working to find the answers he needed.

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Ruth and Caleb had scheduled a dinner date with another couple from their synagogue several weeks ago, and the judge had decided that no sicko was going to prevent him from living his life. Ruth had baked her famous mandlebread and the couple had dressed casually for the evening. They usually stayed until the early morning hours playing cards with the other couple and were eager to get away from their worries for the night.

He watched as Ruth and Caleb exited their house for the evening. He saw their smiling faces, without a care in the world, and it made his blood boil. Why should they be happy when they have caused such misery? He was sitting next to his window again, shielded by the curtains with his beloved cat on his lap. He smiled excitedly as they pulled out of their driveway, taking the detail of idiot police with them.

Looking down at the cat he said, "Webby, they've made it too easy for us my love."

He watched out the window for several minutes, and when he was sure they weren't coming back he sprang into action. He pulled on his rubber gloves and picked up the brown box sitting beside him on the floor, told the cat goodbye and walked out the front door. The neighbors around him went to bed early, so he knew no one would see him scurry across the street. He gently placed the box next to the door so that the message he had scrawled across the side would be visible coming up the stairs. This box read, 'I am watching you.' The little corgi within the house was now barking at him, but the sound was muffled, and wasn't likely to reach any house around. He quickly entered his house and shut out the world to watch for their home coming.

**I hope you enjoyed this chapter...let me know what you think and how I can improve :)**


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